Young Oxford couple killed after celebrating woman's 21st birthday

A young man and woman who were celebrating her 21st birthday died early today after the car they were in crashed into a telephone pole on Main Street.

Police and relatives identified the couple as Tyler Menard, 26, of 60 Wheelock St., who was driving a 2006 Chevrolet Cobalt, and his girlfriend Amanda Marie Riopel, 21, of 2 New St. Police said the car was southbound on Route 12 near Sunset Ave. when it veered off the road and hit a telephone pole, snapping the pole at its base.

Emergency workers were called to the scene at about 2:18 a.m.

Mr. Menard and Ms. Riopel were the parents of a 2-year-old son, Austin, who was not with them at the time of the accident. The couple had been in a relationship since 2008, according to Mr. Menard's Facebook page.

Relatives and friends gathered yesterday at the site of the crash, where a makeshift memorial developed. Visitors taped bouquets of flowers to a telephone pole and lighted five candles at the base, including a tall candle in a container bearing an image of Jesus.

A photograph attached to the pole showed Ms. Riopel, her dark hair pulled back from her face, sitting next to Mr. Menard, who sported a fashionably short beard and their son, Austin, sucking on a pacifier and clutching a brightly colored string of beads, nestled on his father's arm. A hand-lettered sign next to the photo read, “Rest in Peace, Amanda & Tyler. Love you both!” It was signed by the Riopel and Menard family.

“She was a very good mother,” said Ms. Riopel's mother, Donna Riopel, while at the Oxford police station yesterday. “She was very well-liked and outgoing and very friendly. She had a lot of friends, and she'll be sadly missed.”

Oxford police reported in a news release that the car the couple was traveling in was badly damaged. The accident was under investigation by reconstruction experts with the Central Massachusetts Law Enforcement Council, police said.

The office of Worcester District Attorney Joseph P. Early Jr. has assigned an assistant district attorney to the investigation, but no information about the case was available today, according to Timothy J. Connolly, Mr. Early's spokesman. Mr. Connolly said he could not confirm whether autopsies would be performed on the crash victims.

Mr. Menard's Facebook page said he went to Oxford High School and included numerous pictures of his son as well as references to paintball and video games. Messages he apparently posted to the page Thursday and Friday noted the “love of my lifes” birthday and his plans to go out Friday night.

Ms. Riopel's family said she had one brother, Adam. Ms. Riopel and Austin lived with her parents, Brian and Donna Riopel.

Ms. Riopel attended the Grafton Job Corps, a vocational training program, and obtained a high school equivalency degree, according to relatives. She was due to start online college courses Nov. 19, her mother said.

The young mother did not have a driver's license, although she did have a learner's permit, according to her parents. Just two years ago, she'd been struck by a vehicle in a crosswalk not far from the scene of yesterday's accident.

“She survived that, and two years later we lose her,” Mrs. Riopel said.

Among those gathered at the accident site today were grandparents, cousins, an aunt and friends of Ms. Riopel. Grandmother Elizabeth Riopel of Worcester, there with husband Leo, said it was comforting to gather, post a picture of the couple, lay flowers and light candles.

“It's so sad, and you can't put it in your mind this happened,” she said.